Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Pie Crust Experiment

It's fall, and there's no better time for apple pie. So, I decided to make one this weekend.

Making pies makes me yearn for home. As a kid, my sister and I could be entertained for hours by our Mom and Grandmother (aka Nana) if pies were involved. We helped at each step in the process, excepting the actual baking part. Without the comraderie of my sister and mother, I chose to forge ahead anyway, and to up the ante by making two pies. Longing for Cortlands or Empires or McIntosh apples, I settled for a bag of generic red apples.

The experiment: a taste-test pitting my Aunt Ceil's pie crust recipe against America's Test Kitchen's Foolproof Pie Dough recipe.

Aunt Ceil's Pie Crust
(Makes 5-6 Shells)
2-1/2 c shortening (Butter-flavored works well)
5-1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vinegar
1 egg
water

Step 1: Crumb shortening, flour and salt together.
Step 2: In a 1-cup measuring cup, beat egg with vinegar. Fill remainder of cup with cold water.
Step 3: Add to crumb mixture
Step 4: Bake according to directions for filling.


The result: YUM in both cases. My great-aunt's recipe calls for fewer ingredients and might be a bit less "fussy." Our palettes noted little difference in the taste. The result: I'll keep proudly making Aunt Ceil's recipe.

(Co-author's comment: ATK's recipe has vodka in it... daddy like!)